Day 1 - London

Our flights went without a hitch and we arrived in London promptly at 7:30 a.m. I took am Ambien, like I normally do, and slept until right before breakfast was served. We got through the lines pretty quickly and hopped on the tube and got off in the Chelsea area, where I booked the Jurys Chelsea for the night. The hotel wasn't ready for us, so we dropped our bags and hit the town.

As I mentioned above, we've been to London before so we planned on taking the day easy. We had no real plans. We hopped on the tube and headed over to the Tower Bridge. After ooing and aahing again (this was one of our favorite London sights) we spent teh day walking along the Thames river walk. We stopped at ate at the Bistro Rouge, across from St. Paul's, where I had a very good croque monsieur (ham and gouda sandwich) and hubby had some kind of chicken sandwhich. We split a place of pomme frits and each had a Newcastle and then were on our way.

After exploring St. Paul's, which we missed on our last trip and was beautiful, we headed towards Parliament and Big Bed, where we delightfully spotted a crepe stand (which they call a pancake stand but was crepes) right at the foot of the bridge. DH and I discovered a love for nutella crepes on last years trip to Paris and had to stop. Yum! Afterwards it was on to Westminster Abbey.

Now, on our last visit was couldn't visit Westminster Abbey because the Queen Mum had just passed away and they were making funeral preparations. I was very excited to visit, as this was the only thing really planned on our London trip. So we get there at 1:45, only to find out that it closes at....1:45. So we missed it yet again. Dissapointment insued, so husband decided it was time for a Harrods stop to make me feel better.

To be honest I'm not much of a vacation shopped. Of course I purchase souvenirs (!), but I hate to "waste" a vacation sitting in shops so we usually don't shop too much. However, I knew from research that Laduree, the famous Paris cafe, had a shop in Harrods and I knew from that point on that we were going to stop and pick up some Macaroons. Harrods was beyond crowded so we hightailed it to Laduree, each picked out an assortment of macaroons, and then headed back to our hotel for a much needed nap. And for those who are interested, my favorite macaroon flavor is rose while hubby prefered vanilla.

Our hotel room was very nice; quite large and with big picture windows. However, the location was terrible. We were a good 15 minute walk from the nearest tube station and it was quite chilly in London that day. So while the hotel was a great price (60 pounds), I wouldn't stay there again because of its location.

We set our alarm for an hour and quickly fell asleep. We both woke up utterly exhausted and decided to just each in the hotel restaurant and then go back to bed. So we layed in bed a little longer and then headed down to the restaurant. Surprisingly the food was pretty good. I had chicken tikka in a delightful curry sauce with jasmine rice and a piece of flat bread. Hubby had a burger that he claimed was also pretty good. We each had another Newcastle and then went upstairs, repacked everything, and fell into a deep sleep, excited that tomorrow we would finally be in Croatia!

Next up, beautiful Dubrovnik!

Oh goody...welcome back, tcreath.

I hope you had a marvelous trip, and I look forward to reading your report.

Sorry for the spelling errors!

Tracy, I'm impressed that you are posting your report so soon. I hadn't even thought of Croatia until reading about it here but now I want to learn more. You are off to a great start and I'm really looking forward to the rest of your report.

Great start, can't wait to read the whole report. Now pardon my ignorance, but what is a Newcastle?
Thanks.

moolyn, this is what happens when you come back from vacation and are unemployed and looking for a job...you get to start your trip reports because you have nothing better to do! And I already have all of my pictures online! For anyone interested, the website it
www.kodakgallery.com/tracybates. They are separated by country, but all at the top.

Tracy

Very nice Tracy !

I just glanced at your pictures, and they are beautiful! Can't wait to read the rest of your report...

Tracy:

Thank you for the beginning of your report and the great pix...reminded me once again why I love Croatia!
Stu T.

Thank you everyone! I will be adding to the trip report shortly, I hope!

teacher33, I hope I have the name right, but Newcastle is an English beer. I'm not too much of a beer drinker, but I happen to really like these!

tower, its unfortunate but we were unable to visit Plitvice on this trip. The only day it was overcast and rainy was the day that we were to travel from Trogir to Plitvice. We brought our hiking shoes and everything, but it was cold and damp and rainy and we decided that we would just save it for another time. I know that it comes highly recommended by you, and we were both quite disappointed that we couldn't' visit but I guess this just gives us yet another excuse to visit Croatia!

Tracy

Day 2 - Dubrovnik

We wake up filled with excitement because after months of planning we were finally on our way to Croatia! We took the Gatwick Express to Gatwick, which went very smoothly. However, Gatwick was a mess. Luckily we planned enough time, because we needed it. The security lines were long, as expected, and the lines to check in were long as well. We had to go to the lines instead of using self check-in because we were issued paper tickets instead of e-tickets. After getting through security it was another long walk to the south terminal. We had about an hour before our plane was to leave, so we grabbed a light breakfast of pastries (chocolate croissants) and hot chocolate and rested until we boarded. On our flight to Dubrovnik, also a BA flight, we were given bacon and egg sandwiches and fruit cups, which were quite good.

My husband fell asleep and I sat reading my guidebook (Lonely Planet's Dubrovnik) and looking out the window, gazing at the Italian Alps and then at the coastline. As we started our approach to Dubrovnik I started getting chills of excitement and became quite giddy. The sun was out and the coastline was sparkling. By the time we landed I wanted to push everyone off the plane just to get out!

The terrain was quite fasinating. Dubrovnik's airport is tiny so we landed on the tarmac and walked into the airport. It was much more mountainy and rugged than I expected, and quite beautiful. We went through passport control and had our bags within about 10 minutes of landing. We arranged for a driver to pick us up at the airport from Villa Adriatica, the hotel we were staying in while in Dubrovnik, and it was so nice to have someone waiting for us. He was a crazy driver, but I will never forget the first time I saw Dubrovnik appear way below us as we road the coastal road. Magical! Our taxi driver was great. We asked lots of questions and he gave lots of blunt answers. He was full of knowledge and had a sense of pride for his country that was immediately evident and appreciated. We learned about the war and about tension between the countries (Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia), and my husband got advice on driving in Croatia.

Another reason why I am glad we had a driver is because I don't think we would have found our hotel without him being there! Villa Adriatica is more of a bed and breakfast. Its located immediately outside of the Ploce gate, one of the two entries into the old town of Dubrovnik. The Villa was located behind a plain, nondescript brown door and there was no sign anywhere. One of the owners greeted us, along with her darling doggie, and took us into the hotel. The "hotel" is actually a small house with three rooms, a kitchen and a living room. The owners live in the house next door. We were allowed access to both main rooms along with our room. While our room was fine; quite large and with a comfy bed and antique furniture, it was the balcony that made this place truly special. The door opened up to a huge balcony that afforded fantastic views of Dubrovnik and the Adriatic and Lopud island. It was a huge balcony also shared by the room next to ours. However, for this trip we had it all to ourselves because we were the only guests during the three nights we were there. There are chairs out there and honestly I could have spent all day out there, but I was dying to explore Dubrovnik! For anyone interested, the website for Villa Adriatica is http://www.dubrovnik-online.com/villa_adriatica/. I highly recommend this hotel. It was about a 30 second walk to the walls. Next door is a bakery and a small grocer, and the taxi stand is right out front. The cost was about 69 euro per night.

By the time we got into Dubrovnik it was about 2:00 p.m. Our first goal was to walk the old walls to get ourselves oriented with the town. The walls are inexpensive and a fabulous way to spend a few hours. The views were incredible, and the old town is completely charming. We had the wall almost to ourselves, which was also great because we could take our time and stop to take pictures often, which we did! What a beautiful town. The old stone, red roofs and interesting ruins, not to mention the incredible views, made this a highlight of our trip.

We stopped in a cafe, Cafe Cele on the main street, for some delicious hot chocolate and then went back to our room to relax and unpack before dinner. Dinner that night was Baracuda, an Italian restaurant in the old town. I had a three-cheese lasagna that was just so-so. Hubby had a pizza margharita that was very good. It was definitely entree enjoy on my part as I wished I had ordered it as well! Then we just walked around the city until it was time to return to the hotel for bed. The city is just magical at night. All of the white stones on the street take on a shine as the lights from the lanterns glisten against them. Dubrovnik is definitely a romantic town!

Next, the Atlas mess that ended up working out for the best

Sorry....Villa Adriatica was 60 euro per night, not 69 euros. My apologies!

Tracy

tcreath,

So glad you had a great time, anxious to hear more!

Tracy,

First, St. Louis' loss is now Charolotte's gain... We miss ya. Good luck finding a job. That usually ranks up there with root canals....

Second, the pics are great. You and/or Matt have a wonderful eye. Really helps someone like me get a feel for the area. We have friends in Bratislava and are tempted to take them up their offer to come for a visit, but that part of the world is on the B list due largely to our ignorance. Maybe it's time we move it up!!

Third, looking forward to the rest of the story!

Dave

Thanks so much. I love your report.

Tracy - Enjoying your report... TG2

Superb report. I really need to visit this region.

Day 2 - The Atlas screw-up and more Dubrovnik

DH and I knew that we wanted to take an Atlas tour to Montenegro while in Dubrovnik, so back in August we made the arrangments. Because of the time of year we were in Dubrovnik, there was only one Atlas tour to Montenegro and that was on this Monday. We basically rearranged our itinerary so that we would be in Dubrovnik on this day so we could do the tour (the original plan was to immediately head up the coast, leaving Dubrovnik for the end of the trip). I purchased the tickets and printed off my voucher and receipt.

We were to be picked up at Ploce Gate at 7:20. DH and I grabbed pastries from the bakery next door to Villa Adriatica and were sitting at Ploce Gate promptly at 7:05. We waited and waited and waited. Finally at 7:45 we knew that the bus wasn't coming. We walked to the Atlas office, outside of Pile Gate, to complain. When we got there the woman told me that there was some mistake because the tour was leaving on Wednesday. I told her that I booked online and had my voucher and it specifically said Monday, November 6. She took my voucher and realized that they made the mistake, not us. I told her that we wouldn't be there on Wednesday and that something needed to be done. While she was on the phone with her supervisor, another couple came in complaining of the same problem. We both realized that we wouldn't be going to Montenegro with Atlas that day so we got refunds (and many appologies) from Atlas and then went outside to vent our frustrations. Basically Atlas changed our dates because they need a minimum of 6 people for the tour and since they didn't have that for Monday they switched the dates, but without telling any of us.

Anyways, Shaun and Mike, our new Canadian friends now living in London, and DH and I decided to try to arrange a private tour to Montenegro. They were staying at the Imperial Hilton and discussed the situation with the front desk. We were able to get a driver and car for about 200 euros per day, which was approximately what we would have spent on the Atlast tour. This sounded like a great option so we booked it for the next day. We said our goodbyes, promising to meet them at the Hilton's lobby at 9:00 the next morning.

DH and I went about exploring Dubrovnik. Our first stop was the Franciscan Monastery and old pharmacy museum. The Monastery cloisters was very interesting, with beautiful faded frescoes and a delightful courtyard filled with palm trees and flooded with light. THe pharmacy itself is also interesting, and believed to be the oldest pharmacy open to the general public in Europe.

From here we went into several of the churches, including the Church of St. Savior, St. Blaise Church and St. Sebastian Church. We have a rule of going into churches that we see when we are walking around towns in Europe. They are usually delightful, filled with beautiful paintings and stained glass, and a great place to relax and unwind while taking in the beauty.

For lunch we stopped at Bistro Dubrava on the main street. Yes, these restaurants and cafes are touristy and the food is probably mediocre but sitting outside and watching Dubrovnik and the scene unfold as you eat is worth its weight in gold. I had a white Croatian wine, a cheese omelet made with local Pag cheese. DH had a Leffe Blonde beer and some kind of sandwich. We split a plate of pomme frittes. Overall the meal wasn't bad. I quite enjoyed my omelet and fries!

We spent a better part of the day just walking around the city. With its narrow streets and lots of stairs, it reminded me in many ways of the beautiful hilltowns that we saw in Umbria, although Dubrovnik is distinct in a style of its own. We headed for the back of the town near the walls looking for Buza bar because we knew we wanted to have drinks there that night. Wow...I can't even begin to explain the awesome location of this bar. The tables are perched on narrow pieces of rock jutting out from the walls and into the Adriatic. Just magnificant and quite a sight. As we walked into the little doorway (look for a sign that says "cold drinks" and go through the hole in the wall) I gasped at the views and clapped my hands with delight.

For those of you who read my Italy trip report (Rome and Umbria), I am a cat lover and a cat magnet. DH thinks I can spot a cat from a mile away! Well, Dubrovnik is filled with cats and I stopped to pet as many as I could. We found a few that decided they wanted to follow us for awhile, and so of course I had to stop and buy them some tuna from a nearby cafe!

Basically this was just a relaxing day to take in Dubrovnik. While there are definitely some things to see in town, the best part of Dubrovnik is simply being there. We headed outside the city walls, towards the small harbor near Ploce gate, and walked past the lace ladies (yes, I bought some!) to the narrow cement penninsula that juts out from being the old city walls. There are benches out there and today was a beautiful day. We spent about an hour just sitting and enjoying the views and the wind blowing through our hair. The water is so crystal-clear that you could see schools of fish swimming around.

We headed back to our hotel for a leisurely nap with the goal to make it to the Buza bar before sunset. We thought that the place would be hopping, but we were the only ones there. We bought a few Bacardi breezes from the bar and sat and enjoyed the scene. Shades of auburn and crimson flooded the sky, with the sun slowly dipping into the Adriatic, is truly a sight to behold.

Earlier in the day we "menu shopped" and found a Bosnian restaurant that we wanted to visit. St. Louis has quite a large Bosnian population and we always enjoyed eating at the restaurants when we lived there, so we decided to give this place a try. The restaurant is called Taj Mahal. I'm not sure why they named a Bosnian restaurant Taj Mahal, but regardless of the name the food was just superb. I had a cepavi mali, which is a kind of sandwhich made with delicious flat bread and stuffed with small sausage-type meet rolls. It came with a side of wonderful soft cheese that almost looked like butter and a pile of red onions. It was absolutely delicious. Matt had a wonderful plate of mixed meats. We each had a baked potato that also had hunk of the soft buttery cheese on it and a bottle of Lasko, one of the local beers. We capped the dinner off with a baklava that was superb and quite different to the "baklava" that I can get at home. All in all the meal was delicious and I wouldn't hesitate to go there again. We later recommended it to Shaun and Mike, our new friends, and they ate there and really liked their meal as well.

After a leisurely stroll through town and a couple of chocolate Nescafes at a small cafe on stradum, the main street, we went back to our hotel and quickly fell asleep.

Next: A delightful tour of Montenegro

Tracy, I for one am glad that you are temporarily unemployed but still impressed with your speed in posting. I'm just getting to the end of reporting our June trip to the Dordogne.

You pictures are inspiring! Thanks for posting them too. I'm glad you were still able to tour Atlas in spite of the snafu.

How did you manage language wise?

Could a celiac like me find gluten free food easily in Croatia?

lol moolyn...I guess I can get my trip report up quickly because I'm not good enough of a writer to keep folks entertained with a really long report so I tend to keep it short! But I love your Dordogne report and have been following it from the beginning. It definitely caused me to add it to my ever-growing list of "must visits"!

The language wasn't a problem at all. Honestly I think the language barrier is even less of a problem than in some places that we've visited in Italy and Germany. Most Croatians speak excellent english, and most menus are in many languages, including English, so that wasn't a problem either. We had a wonderful chat with the woman who owned the hotel in Trogir that we stayed in. She said that Croatians are required to learn English from grade school and all the way through University, along with several other languages, mostly because nobody else really speaks their language besides some of the former-Yugoslavian countries and therefore they wouldn't be able to get by if they didn't learn the other languages.

As far as gluten-free, I'm not really sure but I don't think it would be a problem. There is tons of seafood, obviously, and lots of great meat dishes as well. Avoiding the bread baskets and problem some of the more pasta-based Italian restaurants should be easy enough. I have an intollerance for fructose but luckily its not too severe a problem so I kind of let it go while we were on vacation. I thought that the baklava would be a problem but luckily not. I guess my sensitive stomache was on vacation the same time we were!

Thanks again for reading!
Tracy

You sell yourself short, Tracy! This is a wonderful report. I am totally enjoying and hope it goes a loooonnngggg time! Your pictures are great and you two are a cute couple. I am anxious to hear about your Montenegro day. What serendipity to have another couple you "clicked" with to take a tour together.

Day 4 - Our tour of Bosnia and Montengro

Matt and I woke up bright and early today, excited and anxious to finally get to Montenegro! We have always wanted to visit Norway to experience the fjords, but have yet to make it there. As soon as hubby found out that Montenegro has the only fjord in Europe outside of Norway Montenegro was placed on our itinerary.

We grabbed a quick breakfast of pastries (donut-like pastry with vanilla custard for me, chocolate croissant for Matt) and an orange juice from a small pastry shop on a small road off of stradum and sat on the steps of the Onofrio fountain eating and marveling at the beauty of Croatia once again.

We then made our way to the Hilton Imperial, not far from Pile gate, and got there around 8:45. Since we had a few minutes to spare, we inquired about a hotel room for our final night. We had a dilemma while planning this vacation because we were unsure of where to stay on our final night in Croatia. We were flying from Zagreb back to Dubrovnik later on in our trip, and our plane didn't arrive until almost 10:00 pm. We wanted to stay somewhere near the airport, since we were flying back to London early the next afternoon, but none of the hotels in Cavtat were open this time of year. The Hilton was a good choice because not only were they open, but it wouldn't be a problem arriving late. Unfortunately they quoted us a very high rate of 180 euro for the one night. I'm jumping ahead a little bit here, but later on this evening we booked it for just over 100 euro on their website when we stopped at a travel cafe.

Anyways, Shaun and Mike, the other couple traveling with us that we met yesterday, met us at the lobby and we went outside to where our guide was waiting with his Mercedes. Our guide was Nikola Serkovic, and he was amazing. He started out by taking us to the fort, built during the Napoleonic era, high above Dubrovnik. He explained that it was used as a front line during the recent war, and that a chair lift used to escort tourists to the top before it was bombed by the Serbian military. The fort is supposed to be off-limits, but he got us inside and it was fascinating to walk around. However, the best aspect of being up at the fort was the amazing views of Dubrovnik down below. The water around the old town, with its many shades of blues and greens, was simply marvelous.

While up there I inquired about Bosnia. He pointed to a mountain peak not too far away and said that Bosnia was over there. He then asked us if we wanted to go. Of course we all enthusiastically said yes. We passed a few towns that were hit pretty hard during the war, and soon afterwards found ourselves at the Bosnian border. Border control was pretty uneventful, and to my delight I heard the distinct sound of a stamp being placed in each of our passports. Nikola took us to an interesting town in Bosnia called Trsteno. Their was an old part of town built in a city wall, and he parked outside of the wall and told us that we could meet him back there in 20 minutes. The town is fairly small so that was fine with us. We took lots of pictures and had a good time. This is definitely off the beaten tourist path. Many locals were staring at us, and I'm assuming its because they don't see English-speaking tourists in their small working-class town too often.

The drive through the Bosnian countryside was really fascinating. The terrain was unlike anything I'v seen before. Rugged and rocky but with very high peaks and little tufts of green grass and trees scattered about here and there. My husband says that it looked almost "alien-like" to him. Very cool. For anyone who is hesitant to visit Bosnia, I highly suggest going. We encountered friendly people and the landscape alone is worth the journey. I would love to go back and spend some more time there.

Okay, on to Montenegro! Again, the border control was fairly uneventful. We got our stamps (although they don't say "Montenegro" on them, perhaps because the country is so new?) and were on our way. We arrived in Montenegro high up in the mountains. As we slowly made our way down the twisty and turny road, towards the town of Herzeg Novi, we could see glimpses of the Adriatic that were just incredible. We finally made our way down and through Herzeg Novi, driving towards Kotor. Our first stop was a pull-over to take pictures of the amazingly beautiful fjord with the small town of Perast across the way. Wow. I honestly don't think I've seen anything as beautiful as this sight in my life. Words can't explain how amazing this was. The water was so calm and clear that you could throw a rock and watch it sink all the way to the botton even though the water was quite deep. The stillness was refreshing and invigorating. We got back in the car and stopped in Perast, where we spent about 20 minutes. Perast is a small town not too far from Kotor. Built with beautiful stone and quite quite during November, it was the perfect spot to take pictures and soak in some of the amazing views. I don't think I've ever heard so many "ooh's" and "aaah's" as I did during our Montenegro trip!

Next stop, Kotor. Wow. We all loved Kotor. It was quite lively, especially compared to Trsteno and Perast, partly due to the fact that a cruise ship was docked in the harbor. Kotor is a beautifully preserved historic town, built within a wall, on the Bay of Kotor. This town is a must for anyone visiting Dubrovnik! The town was just delightful, with cafes and restaurants and lots of interesting churches to visit. In the mountains above the town is a huge fortress with walls that span for miles. The four of us sat together and had coffee at an ourdoor cafe and then just strolled around the town. Since nobody had a Montenegro guidebook (I could never find one in St. Louis), both couples purchased guidebooks on Kotor and Montenegro that were quite helpful. We only had an hour here, and I wish we would have had longer. Matt and I decided that on our next trip to the area (yes, there will be futrue trips!) we would spend at least a few nights in Kotor.

We all piled back in the car and made our way to Budva. Budva is another walled city, and you can walk the city walls, but the town was completely dead during this time of year. We were all starving by now so our thought was to explore a little bit and then eat. Unfortunately that didn't go as planned. We walked part of the city walls, getting beautiful pictures, and then went about finding a place to eat. This proved to be quite a difficult task, as hardly anything was open. We finally find a restaurant that says "pizza" and was open so we went for it. We ordered our drinks and our meals and sat and chatted. After about half an hour we started to panic. We were supposed to meet our driver in about 10 minutes and our food still wasn't here. We called the waiter, who comes out and tells us that the stove is broke and he couldn't cook our food. Annoyed because he waited 30 minutes to tell us this, we quickly threw down the money for our drinks and left. The only thing to do was stop at a grocery store outside of the walls and pick up junk food (chips and candy) to hold us over. Overall I liked Budva, but not nearly as much as Kotor. I honestly wish we could have taken most of the time spent in Budva and added it to Kotor.

Our final stop of the day was to Sveti Stefan, the beautiful fortress, not a hotel, on a small island in the Adriatic. This was just stunning. The sun was shining brightly so it was difficult to get a good picture of it, but again the calmness of the water was quite exhilirating.

As we made our way back towards Kotor we got on the car ferry to take us across the bay. By now it was sunset and standing on the ferry with the breeze blowing and the sun setting was a magical moment that I will always treasure.

All in all it was the perfect day. Nikola couldn't have been a better guide. He answered tons of our questions and took us to places we never would have visited if we would have taken the Atlas tour. He stopped when we wanted to take pictures, and he gave us lots of great information and insight. For anyone who may be interested, his name is Nikola Serkovic. His phone number is 385/0/98 243-305 and his email is nikola.serkovic.du.htnet.hr.

We were dropped off at the Hilton, where we made plans to meet up with Mike and Shaun later on for drinks at one of the Irish pubs in Dubrovnik. Matt and I went back to our hotel, freshed up, and then headed to Mea Culpa for dinner of delicious pizza. Matt had a cheese pizza with salami, and mine had bacon and onion. Yum! We each had a Karlovacko beer (another local beer) and discussed the awesome day we had.

Mike and Shaun were so great to travel with because they travel a lot like we do. We are not really "beachy people". We love ancient history and experiencing new cultures. A big part of the joy of the day was experiencing it with them. Also a fun fact: we realized that we flew to Dubrovnik with them and we were taking the same flight back to London with them as well! Small world!

Anyways, after pizza at Mea Culpa we hit the internet cafe to check e-mail, book the Hilton and say hello to Fodors before meeting Mike and Shaun at the pub. This was a very late night for us, and Matt and I are not really the up-all-night type. We met them at 8:00 and were still there when the pub closed at 11:30 so we headed back to the Hilton to sit in the lounge. We had such a great time. After a very long night, we finally had to say our goodbyes because we were picking up our car tomorrow morning to drive up the coast and we needed some rest. We bid Mike and Shaun fairwell, promising to meet them the final day to take a taxi to the airport together, and walked back to our hotel where we quickly crashed for the night.

Next, a stunning drive up the Croatian coast, Split and Trogir

Tracy, thanks for answering my questions! Croatia is now definitely on my list of places I have to see.

There was a film called Montenegro back in the 80s. Kind of weird but you might want to search it out.

Hi Tracy...

>>>Our final stop of the day was to Sveti Stefan, the beautiful fortress, not a hotel, on a small island in the Adriatic.<<<

Since when? We stayed there as recently as three years ago...absolutely unique and delightful lodgings.

Loving your report. Very descriptive...

Stu T.

Here's a web page on Sveti Stefan....
http://www.virtualtourist.com/hotels/Europe/Republic_of_Montenegro/Hotels_and_Accommodations-Republic_of_Montenegro-BR-1.html

Stu

Stu, you caught one of my many spelling mistakes. I must be more careful! I meant to put "now a hotel". What a big difference one letter makes!

I would love to stay at the hotel. Our driver said that its a 5 star hotel, so I doubt its in our price range, but one can always dream. I couldn't imagine a better location for a hotel.

Thanks for catching that!
Tracy

Tracy -- Great report! Anxious to read about the drive to Trogir. BTW I think you meant to say the view to Lokrum from your terrace, not Lopud.

Yikes....another mistake! You know, I confused the two during the whole trip. I guess Lokrum and Lopud sound just too much alike! But you are absolutely right. Thanks for pointing it out!

Tracy

Tracy,

Loving your report! I was in Dubrovnik in September, and have yet to start my trip report...I know...I need to get my "bum" in gear and do it, but I'm a little intimidated by all these great trip report authors!

I really enjoyed your report as Croatia is on my list of must-sees. My husband likes to stay at Hiltons so I was happy to read of one there.

Great report. Thanks.Johanna

Tracy...would you believe we paid equiv. of $60 for a great view room and sumptuous breakfast only three years ago..of course it was the LAST two nights of their season (they were closing for NOv, Dec and Jan)and they surprised us with the $60 rate...only about three guests staying there those last two nights). Wonderful experience!

Stu T. (did you find any of the gelato places I mentioned?)

Stu,

Wow...great price! I assumed it would cost a small fortune to stay there, but I guess it all depends on the time of year you visit. Its something I'll definitely look into on our next trip.

I think I found at least one of the gelaterias you mentioned. Is it the one that is right across from Onofrio fountain? We got some delicious gelato there one day. We also stopped at various gelaterias throughout our Dubrovnik stay, so I wouldn't be surprised if we hit the one you recommended.

As far as the one in Trogir, I think it was closed? There was very little open in Trogir when we were there, so I don't think I saw it. We spent very little time in Trogir, to be honest, because the town was so shut down. Still, it was a charming town in a beautiful setting and I would love to go back and visit.

Tracy

Tracy,
Great trip report and beautiful pictures. I had a totally different picture in my mind of Croatia. It is beautiful and now it is on my list of places I want to visit!

Maureen

tracy.. thanks for the great report.. you dined at many of the same places we did (Taj Mahal, Mea Culpa), and your observations of the beauty of Croatia remind me of my own. When you said that 'the best part of Dubrovnik is just being there' -- captured my thoughts exactly. i'm SO enjoying walking around there again (sortof) with you. Glad that your Atlas Montenegro snafu worked out for the best also. looking forward to more......

Thank you both for reading my report!

Maureen, I think your thoughts match the thoughts of many of our family members and friends who throught we were nuts to pick Croatia as a travel destination. They took a look at our pictures and most were quite pleasantly surprised. It really is a gorgeous country and I highly recommend visiting!

callalilli, I read through many of your posts when planning this trip, so I owe you a very big thanks! Getting to Croatia was kind of a pain, but luckily it was more than worth it. I wish I was back in Dubrovnik right now....

I should be adding to my report within the next day or two. Thanks again to everyone for reading!

Tracy

hey tracy.. i just viewed your photos.. very nice! it looks different in November but so inviting me back! I was wondering if i could ask you a favor.. could you email one of your pics to me? i collect pictures of crossing signs.. and i really like the one you have entering Budapest with the round crossing sign behind it. if you dont mind sharing it with me so i can print it and add it to my photo album. i'm at my screenname plus 1111@yahoo.com. (please dont feel like you cant say no.. )

callalilli, absolutely! I took those pictures because I had no idea how to pronounce some of the town names on them so I thought they were interesting. And we too liked the crossing signs, and saw them quite often while on our short Hungary journey.

I'm sending it now!
Tracy

Tracy,

What a wonderful trip - enjoyed reading your trip report.

Ahmed

Hi Ahmed!

Its good to hear from you! We had a great time and I so want to go back!

How is your Italy itinerary coming along?

Tracy

Tracy, thanks again for your report. Just "being" there is exactly what I thought was the best part. I really miss it, but thankfully have lots of pictures to keep it alive. I can't wait to go back too.

Day 5 - Our drive up the coast

Today is the day that we were to start driving, and DH was more than a little nervous after seeing some of the crazy drivers flying around the coastal road, but we both decided that a car was a necessity so we decided to go through with our plan.

We woke up early and luckily had no hangovers from the long night before! We grabbed some pastries and an orange juice from the pastry shop next door to Villa Adriatica. We ate our pastries on "our" balcony, packed up all of our stuff and bid farewell to our hotel and beautiful balcony.

We usually book cars with Auto Europe, but the prices were really high. I found a recommendation for Economycarrentals.com here on fodors and decided to check them out. They gave me an excellent deal, at close to half the price of Auto Europe. Still, we were a little nervous, worried that they wouldn't show. Luckily this wasn't a problem. Promptly at 9:00 our car shows up right outside of our hotel. We quickly fill out all of the paperwork and are on our way. This was a great feature, I might add. Having the car dropped off right outside of our hotel was a wonderfulc convenience!

Hubby gets into the drivers seat of our Scoda and we go about our way. We get a little turned around in Dubrovnik, and hubby has some choice words to say about the driving, and then make it onto the coastal road. A big negative of Economy Car Rentals is that they don't leave you with a full tank of gas. Our gas was a little under 1/4 a tank left, so we are looking for a gas station as we drive. The scenery is beyond beautiful, but we start panicking when there are no gas stations to be found. Luckily we find one not far from Ston because we were almost at empty at this point. So a good tip would be to fill up your tank before you leave Dubrovnik!

Anyways, after getting gas and some snacks (Cockta, chips and chocolate; healthy, I know!) we were back on our way. Everyone says how gorgeous this road is, and they certainly weren't lying. We passed beautiful coastal vistas with hundreds of islands and the sun glittering against the silky azure waters of the Adriatic. Everyone talks about how great the coast is, but the mountains are fascinating in and of themselves. Very rugged and rocky and beautiful, especially against the coast where the views are dramatic.

We eventually went inland a little, where we saw lots of marshy floodplains and farms. It was here that we stopped at one of the many orange stands along the road. The elderly women sell oranges straight from their farms, as well as homemade orange liquors and honey. We picked up a bag of about 15 small oranges for under $1.50 USD. The oranges were delicious, very juicy and sweet, and made for perfect snacks.

We finally get to Split. We were unsure of rather to even add Split to our itinerary because of the mixed reactions, but it all came down to wanting to see Diocletian's palace. I'm going to be honest here; we did not like Split. Something about it just didn't click with us. It was crowded and lacked much of the charm that other Croatian towns seem to have. Its a big, bustling city. Still, Diocletians Palace was interesing and I'm glad we went. We picked up some take-away pizza slices and left because after about an hour or so we had already had our fill of Split.

Our base for the night was Trogir, and I was very glad we chose it over Split. Trogir is a beautiful town in a picturesque setting. We booked Villa Pape (http://www.villa-pape.com/) for one night. We had originally booked a regular room, but we found out later on that the owners don't actually live in Trogir; they live in Split and it was easier for them to just put us in the ground floor apartment for the one night. It took some doing to find the apartment, located high in the hills of the small island of Ciovo, located behind Trogir. Still, it was worth it because the owners were delightful. The place was also quite nice; we had a beautiful terrace with picture-perfect views of the coastline, a kitchen, bathroom and very comfortable bedroom. We made arrangments to pay for breakfast for the next morning and fell into a much-needed rest before leaving for dinner.

We had dinner in a small pizzeria in Trogir, mostly because their was very little available for us. The town really does all but shut down during the fall/winter months. Still, the food was food; we each had a pizza margharita and a Karkovacko beer again, and we had the restaurant all to ourselves for the duration of our meal. Afterwards we just wandered around the town, made a phone call to our parents on one of the payphones, stopped at a small bar/cafe for some hot chocolates and then drove back to Villa Pape for the night.

Sorry this is short and to the point...I'm not feeling too well today so I'm anxious to get back into bed for some rest!

Next: Hello Slovenia!

Tracy:

It seems that many first-time visitors to Croatia either skip Split or "split from Split" very quickly. Advice to anyone wanting to see the Palace and spend a few days, I highly recommend the "better part of town", within easy walking distance of the major sights in and around the Diocletian comlex.

The Park Hotel is located in a more residential area, overlooking one of the better beaches in town. It is a throwback to the 20's and 30's, quietly elegant. We stayed there in '04 and have recommened it to friends and family who all agreed that it was a haven in otherwise drab Split. Rates are in the low $100's

http://www.hotelpark-split.hr/eng_index.php

Stu T.

Tracy, all you seem to do is eat and sleep and enjoy beautiful buildings and scenery. Sounds perfect! Any place where oranges can be picked fresh from trees is way up there for me. Hope you feel better soon!

Tracy-

Enjoying your report! The scenery, the food, the people, the wine! Oh, how I want to go back.

For those interested in staying in Split, I'd second Stu's recommendation for the Park Hotel.

I do want to make it clear that I wouldn't advise anyone to skip Split just because we found it unappealing. There were definitely some interesting aspects of the city. Different strokes for different folks, as they say.

Moolyn, you definitely summed up our version of a great vacation! We do like museums but for the most part we spend most of our trips just "soaking in the atmosphere" as they say. Croatia is the perfect place to do that because overall most of the towns don't have an overabundance of things to do. We try to be as relaxed as possible while also seeing what we want to see. And since I love to sleep, naps are almost always worked into our itinerary, even if by accident! But because many places close around 4:00 and dinner usually doesn't start until after 7:00, so this made for perfect nap times!

Issy and Stu, thanks for commenting on the Park. I did check it out due to your recommendation, Stu, and it looked lovely. We decided to stay in Trogir mostly because it was cheaper, although the Park is also a great price. Our flight tickets were more expensive than we usually spend so we offset the price by staying in smaller b&bs and apartments, which tend to be less expensive.

Tracy

Hi Tracy,

Italy's around the corner! We're off on the 28th and so looking forward to it.

By the way, we decided to just go to Rome for the entire week.

Watch this space for my trip report.

Ahmed

Ahmed,

Sounds like a wonderful trip. Rome is fabulous and definitely worthy of an entire week. I'll be anxiously awaiting your trip report!

Have a great trip!
Tracy

Day 6 - Slovenia

Today was the day that we had planned on visiting Plitvice National Park. We really wanted to visit but wasn't sure how it would be in November. Our plan was kind of a crazy one; drive from Trogir to Plitvice, sightsee in the park for a few hours, and then head to Novo Mesto, Slovenia, our homebase for the next few nights. However, this plan went completely out the window when we woke up to see cloudy skies and overall gloomy weather. We decided that it wasn't worth it and that we would visit Plitvice next time we were in Croatia. Yet another reason to come back!

We headed over to the small "tavern" that Villa Pape uses as their breakfast room. The owners had a scrumptious breakfast for us that included a delicious assortment of breads, cold meats, cheeses, yogurts and fruit, along with made to order eggs, coffee, a selection of teas and fresh-squeezed orange juice. All of this for 5 euro! But the best part was spending the next few hours chatting to the owners, who are darling. We discussed US and foreign politics, the recent war and how it still affects the relationships of the countries involved, and even the US's lack of a decent maternity leave! All in all it was a perfect morning and we learned more about Croatia from those two hours than we had reading up on the history before we left. We ended up leaving later than anticipated but decided that it was more than worth it. We will definitely stay here again.

We bid our farewells and headed up the coast and onto the A1, which my husband still swears is the best "interstate" he's driven on in Europe because its in excellent condition and was fairly empty when we were on it. We got off in Benkovac, a small town that I read about in my guidebook as having been hit quite hard during the war. The town itself is small and quaint, with a little castle perched above it. We really didn't see any remnants of the war, but we were glad we stopped. We walked around for a bit and contemplated grabbing a quick lunch but decided that we were both still quite full from our breakfast so we passed. We got back in the car and headed north.

So many people come to Croatia and only see the coast, but their is so much more to the country! As we were driving inland we were taken by the beautiful scenery, which starts to look a little more like Austria as we near the Slovenian border. Small towns dot the rolling hillsides, with beatiful church steeples dominating the "skyline" of the towns.

We stop at a gas station/restaurant, similar to an AutoGrill in Italy, for a quick lunch that was surprisingly good. I had spaghetti bolognese and hubby had a schnitzel.

Finally we were on our way to Slovenia! Slovenia has been high on our "must see" list for some time, and we decided to fit it into our itinerary now, while it is still using the tolar and things are relatively inexpensive.

Anyways, we exit at Karlovac to get to Novo Mesto and somehow managed to get ourselves really lost. We ended up on a small, winding road that was supposed to take us to a town that was on our map that headed to Novo Mesto. After driving on this road for what seemed like eternity we finally found the town and the main road into Slovenia. Border crossing was fairly uneventful and we got more stamps in our passports. Next stop is Novo Mesto.

I chose to stay in Novo Mesto because we were flying out of Zagreb after a few days and I wanted something convenient to both Ljubljana and Zagreb. Novo Mesto was perfect because it was halfway between the two. More of a working class town, I presume, with factories on its outskirts, it has a small old town built with its ancient walls. I stumbled upon http://www.novomesto.si/en/ when planning this trip, and this is how I found our accommodations, Gostilna pri Belokranjcu (http://www.pribelokranjcu-vp.si/English/eng.htm).

Gostilna pri Belokranjcu was a lovely place to stay. Our room was in the building directly behind the hotel restaurant and bar, and we had a lovely room on the top floor with slanted cealings and skylights that opened to let in the fresh air. Breakfast was included each morning and included yogurts, fruit, rolls and this delicious cake that was similar to a spice cake but much more dense. At 50 euro per night, this place is a great bargain.

Because it was later in the day when we arrived, we unpacked and rested a bit before heading out for dinner. We contemplated eating at our hotel restaurant but decided to check out the old town first. We walked across the bridge and into the old town, got out some Tolar and then tried to find a restaurant. Half an hour later we still could not find anywhere to eat! We weren't being picky; we literally couldn't find any restaurants. We were pretty hungry by this point so we walked back to the hotel and ate at the restaurant there, which turned out to be really good. We both had pork schnitzel with mixed salads and potato side dishes and we split a bottle of Slovenian white wine that was wonderful. We topped our meal off with a delicious layered cake dessert that our waiter told us was authentic to the area. The food was good but our waiter made our experience great. He was suprised to find us there and assumed that we were just staying there as we headed down to the Croatian coastline, as he said that most people who find themselves in Novo Mesto are Germans who use it as an overnight stop on their way to the coast. When we told him that we were staying for a few days his eyes seemed to light up and he gave us great advice on what to do with our time. He had a lot of pride for his country that was quite evident and made it a joy for us to discuss our trip plans with him.

With full bellies we went back to our room for the night, excited about the next day.

Next: Bled and Ljublana

Tracy your report is wonderful. I would also like to visit this region one day.

A different question. What time did you leave Chicago? I am interested in the Ambien. I normally take Ativan for flying because of the axiety. I have been wondering if I could take Lunesta for a transatlantic flight which would be better. My problem is we go from Denver to DC and then to Frankfurt so I could not take the Lunesta but would be apprehensive about taking Ativan and then taking Lunesta. We leave D.C. at 5pm. I will talk to my doctor but just wondered how long you were flying.

milliebz, thanks for reading my report!

As for the Ambien, I took it as soon as I got on the plane. Our flight left around 5:30, if I'm not mistaken. It was about an 8.5 hour flight from Chicago to London, and with the Ambien I fell asleep promptly after dinner and slept probably a total of about 6 to 6.5 hours of the flight. I've never taken anything other than Ambien on flights, so I really can't comment about any other form of pill. I never have any side affects with Ambien, but it works differently for each person. I would suggest doing a trial-run of whichever pill you use before you leave home so you don't have some odd side effect while on your trip.

Good luck!
Tracy

I hope I'm not boring everyone with my trip report! I'm not nearly as entertaining as many others on this board!

Day 7 - Ljubljana and Bled


As mentioned above, Gostilna pri Belokranjcu, our hotel in Novo Mesto, had an excellent small breakfast. I ate more than my fair share of the little cakes (although, in my defense, I also ate a lot of fruit which provided me at least a few nutrients!) and a nice hot cup of chamomile tea. Today would be a busy day and we were anxious to get started.

Our first stop of the day was Bled. Yes, we were probably crazy to try to fit in Bled and Ljubljana on the same day but we really, really wanted to see Bled so we decided to go for it. Driving in Slovenia wasn't as easy as driving in Croatia. The autobahn is on its way to becoming great, but it is still being heavily worked on so we would be on it for a few miles and next thing we knew we were back on a two-lane road. This gets repeated many times as we drive along. Anyways, the drive to Bled was fairly quick and easy from Novo Mesto, and our excitement level began to rise as we started seeing the beautiful Alps in the distance. I find being in the mountains an exhilirating experience, and these didn't dissapoint.

Bled itself was a nice little town and the lake was darling, but to be completely honest I was a little dissapointed. It is definitely more of a "resort" than I had anticipated, and while the lake is beautiful I don't know if I would agree that its more beautiful than, say, the Konigssee near Berchtesgaden in Germany. Still, the little island was beautiful, and all of the leaves were changing colors so it made for a beautiful scene.

It was pretty chilly here, so we walked partway around the lake and then sat on a bench and watched a mother feed the ducks with her young children before stopping in a cafe for some delicious hot chocolate. I don't know what it is about the hot chocolate in Europe, but it tastes about a million times better than anything I can ever find here in the states. Warm and chocolately and thick, its almost more of a pudding and definitely better than the watery stuff around here! Okay, that was way off topic....

We spent about an hour in Bled, taking our pictures and drinking our hot chocolate before getting back in the car and heading for Ljubljana. I have always heard and read good things about Ljubljana so its been high on my list of places to visit for a number of years, and it definitely didn't dissapoint. We loved it. The city is very charming and walkable, and has an intimate feel about it.

We parked our car in a garage near the river and just started walking. We didn't have much of an agenda other than to visit the castle. We walked across the dragon bridge and towards the lively market. We've been to plenty of markets in Europe and this one is one of the liveliest. There were dozens of produce stands, flower stands, clothing stalls and souvenir stalls, not to mention stalls selling fresh bakery items and pastries. We strolled for awhile and then made our way to the Information office, where we picked up maps and got information on how to catch the train to the castle. And then we just walked and walked and walked. We visited Preseren Square, Square of the Republic, the Serbian Orthodox church, Church of the Holy Trinity, and walked along the river. We picked up burek, a tasty mixture of cheese stuffed in phyllo dough and fried (another healthy lunch!) and soft drinks for lunch, and stopped in a wonderful chocolate shop, Cokoladnica Cukrcek, at Mestni trg 11, for some yummy chocolate souvenirs to take home and a small bag of truffles for us to eat as we walked up and down the streets.

Because by this point we were too lazy to walk up the hill to the castle, and because honestly we couldn't figure out how to get up there anyways, we picked up the little train in the middle of Preseren Square and rode to the top of the castle for just a few dollars. The castle itself is fairly interesting, although I think the best thing about it is the views from the top of the tower. It costs another few dollars to get to the top of the tower, and its kind of creepy for those weary of heights (me) but the sweeping views of Ljubljana and the Alps made it all worthwhile. We had another delicious hot chocolate at the little cafe in the courtyard of the castle grounds and then caught the train back down. After another quick stroll and more picture taking we were exhausted and ready for a nap. We got in our car and out of town uneventfully and made it back to Novo Mesto in time for a quick nap before dinner.

Because we knew better this time than to try to find a restaurant in the old town, we pulled out our Novo Mesto tourism brochure (picked up at our hotel) and decided to drive to a restaurant not too far from where we were staying, Gostisce Dezmar, located at Ljubljanska cesta 65 in Novo Mesto. Unfortunately this wasn't the best experience. After the superb service we had the night before in our hotel restaurant, this was a dissapointment. We didn't get the correct food we ordered, although the broiled scnitzel we ended up with wasn't bad, and the service was terrible. I probably wouldn't recomment this place.

We headed back to our hotel and sat in the bar, where we found the waiter we had from the night before talking to another person at the bar. We were greeted very warmly, and we sat down to order two beers the gentleman sitting at the bar asked if we had tried a new local wine. When we said no he had our waiter/bartender give us free samples. The wine was delicious and we had a wonderful conversation with our new friend. We found out that he was from Stuttgart and his whole family was in town to celebrate his MIL's birthday, as she lived in Novo Mesto. They had the hotel restaurant rented out for the entire next night for their family. We had a great chat about his visits to the US and our visits to Europe. Like our waiter from the night before, he seemed impressed that we were staying in Slovenia and in Novo Mesto instead of one of the more touristy places. After a few hours of chatting we parted ways and hubby and I quickly fell asleep.

Tomorrow: Otocec Castle, Verasdin, an unexpected journey into Hungary, and Zagreb

Thanks for reading!

Hi Tracy - Reading and greatly enjoying!!

How is the job hunting going, or are you going to wait a bit on that??

Lynn

Tracy: I am happily reading along and loving every word. Sounds like you managed to squeeze in a lot of wonderful places and sights. Good job!!

Lynn,

Unfortunately the job hunt is going slowly! I think its just a bad time of year to be job hunting, with the holidays and all. That being said, I do have an interview tomorrow morning, so wish me luck!

Barb, thanks for your comments! We did see quite a bit, especially when I start thinking back on it!

Take care!
Tracy

Day 8 - Otocec Castle, Varazdin, an unexpected journey into Hungary, and Zagreb

We woke up this morning anticipating a long day. We had a pre-booked a Croatia Air flight to Dubrovnik for 9:00 p.m. that would leave from Zagreb. We had to be out of our hotel by 11:00, giving us a whole day and evening, without resting, before catching our flight back to Dubrovnik. Luckily we worked out a gameplan for the night before. We decided to first visit Otocec Castle, just outside of Novo Mesto, that our waiter told us about a few nights before. He gave us a brochure, and it looked like a lovely castle that is currently being used as a hotel. From here we would head to Verazdin, an interesting town full of baroque buildings that I read about in my Fodors Croatia Slovenia guidebook. Since Varazdin is fairly close (about 20 miles) from the Hungary border, we also decided to venture into Hungry, get a new passport stamp (tacky but true) and then head to Zagreb where we would spend the remainder of our time before heading to the airport to drop off our car. It sounds hectic, but overall it was a great day.

We woke up, ate another nice breakfast at the hotel, packed up our stuff and bid farewell to Gostilna pri Belokranjcu. We followed the signs to Otocec Castle (http://www.terme-krka.si/en/otocec/grad/). The castle itself is small but lovely, in a picturesque park setting on an island in the Krka. We parked our car and walked across the bridge over the Krka river and to the castle grounds. We didn't actually go inside, as we didn't know if we were allowed to or not given that its a hotel, but we walked into the courtyard and read about some of the interesting history on the castle. After taking our obligatory pictures, we hopped back into the car and headed for the Croatian border. Again, the border crossing was quick and easy.

Our next stop was Varazdin. As we headed for Varazdin we were once again taken with the beauty of Croatia. The rolling hills and small villages dotting the landscape was very peaceful and lovely.

As I mentioned above, Varazdin (http://www.tourism-varazdin.hr/) is a great town filled with really interesting baroque buildings with a great city center. We parked our car and just started walking, taking lots of pictures along the way. We stopped at another Kras chocolate shop for some not-so-healthy but delicious snacks, ducked into a few beautiful churches, and stopped for lunch at a small cafe/pastry shop for a light lunch of pizzas (that I swear had ketchup on them), cokes and a delicious dessert of an apple pastry similar to an apfelstruedel. All in all we really enjoyed visiting Varazdin. Although there isn't a whole lot to do there, like Dubrovnik the town itself is its own attraction and definitely worth a visit for anyone who finds themselves in this area of Croatia.

After leaving Varazdin we head north again, our sights on the Hungary border. Again the border crossing was non-eventful. We get our stamps (woohoo!) and drive about 20 minutes into Hungary before hubby decides that we should turn around and head back towards Zagreb because by this time it was the middle of the afternoon. So to sum it up, yes we drove into Hungary just to get our passports stamps. I can't say I was too impressed with the scenery just over the border. It wasn't bad, but in the words of my husband: "well, I can finally say that I found somewhere in Europe that reminds me of Illinois" because we were in a small, rural farming area that did indeed remind of us small Illinois towns near where we lived before moving to Charlotte.

Our next stop is Zagreb, where we will be spending the remained of our time before heading to the airport. We drive until we see exit signs for Zagreb's center and get off. Along the way we pass communist-era block apartment buildings, which is what I expected. We get into the city and park in a parking garage attached to a mall, anxious to get out of the car and explore Zagreb.

We were unsure all along whether to even visit Zagreb, as we heard mixed thoughts on the city. We decided that no trip to Croatia would be complete without a visit to its capital, and because my maternal grandfather was born in Zagreb I had even more of a reason for wanting to visit. I'm so glad we did, as I feel that the city certainly is underrated.

Our first stop was the TI on Trg bana Jelacica, where we picked up a map and some various information. We visited the beautiful Zagreb Cathedral, which was stunning, even when compared to the many cathedrals we have visited in Europe. I drug hubby through a few malls and souvenir shops and then we stopped for cappuccinos as a small cafe near the cathedral. To be honest we really didn't do a whole lot because we didn't arrive in Zagreb until about 3:00 p.m. on a Saturday and many things were starting to close. We wandered around the city center, which is filled with great pedestrian-only streets, lively cafes, restaurants and shops. We decided to eat at a lovely Italian restaurant, Trattoria Fellini, on Savska 90. I had a wonderful gnocci baked with a variety of cheeses, and hubby had a great pasta dish made with a meat sauce. We had an excellent bread basket and each had a glass of white house wine.

After dinner we were tired and chilly so we decided to head back to the car and make our way to the airport. Getting to the aiport was super easy, as there are signs everywhere to follow so its hard to get really lost. We parked our car outside of the airport and went inside to inform H&M Car Rental, which is who economycarrental.com used for our car rental, that we were ready to turn our car in. After a quick inspection we were good to go.

We had two hours to kill before our flight, and the Zagreb airport is tiny and dead at night! There were literally about 4 more flights that evening, and the place was almost deserted. We got our tickets, checked our bags, and headed down to the cafe to have a couple of nescafes and try to kill the time. We looked around one of the few souvenir shops until we got kicked out because they were closing, went to the newsstand to pick out a few magazines, and just sat at the gate until it was time to board.

I wasn't sure what to expect with Croatia Airlines, but the plane was fantastic! It looked very new and super clean, with indvidual monitors playing the safety instructions and very friendly staff. After a short 45 minute flight we were back in Dubrovnik. I just love Dubrovnik's airport; we landed, got our luggage, and boarded the Atlas bus all in a matter of about 10 minutes. The bus dropped us off right outside of Pile gate, and we walked the very short distance to the Imperial Hilton.

Now, my husband and I usually stay at more budget hotels or apartments because we rarely spend a lot of time in our room while on vacation. I will admit, though, that it was nice to stay at a luxury hotel after days of hotels with small showers and bad tv! We checked in and received a persolized letter signed by the manager welcoming us to the hotel. We walked into our room and were quite impressed; plush robes were sitting on the bed, we had a nice, big bathtub, tv with english channels, and a huge, comfy bed. I don't think I would have paid $180 per night for this hotel, which is what I was quoted by the hotel at the beginning of our trip, but for $100 I thought it was a great deal as it was very nice and plush. Still, it lacked any view and I preferred being on the Ploce gate side, which was quieter and had the better view.

After such a long day, it was so great to take a long, hot bath and get into the super-comfortable bed where we quickly fell asleep.

Tomorrow: A wonderful breakfast buffet, a last jaunt through Dubrovnik, and back to London

I also wanted to remind everyone that you can check out the pictures from our trip, if you are interested, by clicking on http://www.kodakgallery.com/tracybates.The pictures are broken down by country.

Tracy

Sorry. That's kodakgallery.com/tracybates.

Tracy

Tracy, what a treat to find more of your wonderful report! I hadn't even considered Croatia until I started reading this and now it's definitely on my list.

I happened across your question about Asia on another forum. You should go! I've been to Japan twice and Thailand once and loved every minute. They're quite different from each other so you would have quite a different experience in each.

I didn't know about Fodor's back when I went to both in January 2004 but sent travalogues home to my family. My daughter has saved them so I could send them to you if you'd like. You can contact me at moolyn@hotmail.com

Tracy - 100 bucks for the Imperial Hilton is an absolute STEAL. Good job!

Hope all is going well in Charlotte, how are you liking it so far?

moolyn, I'm glad you are enjoying my report! I never considered Croatia as a vacation destination until I stumbled across Fodors several years ago. We absolutely loved it. Of the 20 or so countries I've been to in Europe, I would have to say that Croatia is my favorite (although followed closely by Austria). I was just telling my husband how I would love to go back next year!

Thank you so much for your thoughts on Japan! I would love to go. Hubby is a little hesitant though, so we decided on Germany/Switzerland for next year. Quite different from Japan, I know! But we are saving some of our miles and definitely want to visit Asia after that trip, and both Japan and Thailand sound amazing. As much as I love Europe, I am aching to go to Asia. And I would love to read your travelogues, so I will send you an e-mail. Thanks so much for the offer!

Lynn, Charlotte is going well. We really like it here so far. We are closing on our new home next month, and I can't wait. The corporate apartment we are living in certainly isn't home, although its free so I guess I can't complain. It's completely furnished, but I so miss my own things! Once I get into a house and get my own stuff back Charlotte will start feeling like home. And we are going home for the holidays, something I am very much looking forward to. Thanks so much for asking!

Tracy

Tracy, what a terrific trip report. Is it possible, for a one month stay to drive the coast from Istria to Dubrovnik? We are 2 adult's 50ish, don't tell anyone, and think we want 3 different base cities. What about a car and any suggestions for cities to do day trips. I loved your report.

Reecee, thanks for your comments!
You can absolutely drive the coast in one month! We did it in, oh, about 2 days! Granted that was very rushed, but the road system is very good. I would definitely pick 3 places to base yourself. One of them must be Dubrovnik. It truly is a jewel of a town. Another base could be somewhere around Split, either Split, Trogir or perhaps one of the islands such as Hvar. And for the third, I would consider somewhere on or near the Istrian penninsula. We didn't make it that far but did extensive research and it sounds/looks wonderful.

For daytrips from Dubrovnik, I can't suggest Montenegro enough. Kotor was a wonderful town, and the Bay of Kotor was simply incredibly beautiful. We hired a private guide with another couple and were so happy we did so because he took us to places we wouldn't have visited otherwise, like the fort above Dubrovnik that has an interesting history and amazing views of Dubrovnik below. Most taxi drivers do private tours, and your hotel will also have a list of tour guides because its a popular daytrip.

If you are in the Split vicinity, definitely check out Trogir. Its a beautiful, small town with a stone wall surrounding the old town. While small, it certainly doesn't lack in charm.

I would also suggest trying to fit in Plitvice National Park. We so wanted to do this, but as you read above it rained on the day we were to visit and we were so dissapointed. The park looks amazing and very unique, and it would be a shame to visit Croatia for a month and skip over this natural beauty.

While lacking some of the charm of the coastal cities and towns, Zagreb, the capital, is a nice city and worth at least a partial day if you have the time.

Let me know if you need any more advice. Good luck and happy planning!

Tracy

Reecee...

I agree wholeheartedly with Tracy about visiting Plitvice...it is beatiful. In fact, I found all the places I visited in Croatia to be jaw-droppingly gorgeous. I was there last September and visited Plitvice, the Island of Rab, the Island of Hvar and Dubrovnik. If you click on my screen name you will be able to find my rather lengthy trip report about my month in Central Europe which included 2 weeks in Croatia.

Happy travelin!

Yikes...I really need to finish this! I didn't realize that its been so long!

Day 9 - Our last day in Dubrovnik

We woke up this morning ready to head back into Dubrovnik for our final few hours before catching our cab to the airport. We heard about the "excellent breakfast" from our new friends Shawn and Mike (mentioned several times above), who live in London, travel all the time, and proclaim that this is the best European breakfast they've ever had. Well, obviously this peaked our interest and considering that breakfast was included in the price of the room we had to check it out. I must say that they were pretty right on. The breakfast buffet is huge; definitely the largest I have seen in Europe. There were so many different kinds of fruits, yogurts, cheeses, meats, and then various "American-type breakfast foods like sausage and eggs. There were also several kinds of juices (I preferred pineapple) and the waitresses came around with fresh-squeezed orange juice that was out of this world. So we sat inside the atrium area of the restaurant, eating our breakfast and noticing the not-so-great weather. We were in a hurry to get back into Dubrovnik so we ate quickly and were on our way.

As we walked through the lobby, we asked the hotel to arrange for a cab to pick us up at noon and take us to the airport. I wanted to mention that we considered taking the Atlas bus back to the airport, but this was more difficult than it sounds. Unlike where the Atlas bus dropped us off the night before, you had to catch the bus at the main bus station located several miles outside of town and the buses pick up at about 90 minutes before each flight. We didn't want to risk missing our flight so we decided it was easier and less risky to just spend the money on the cab.

As we walked into town we ran into Mike and Shawn, who were still staying at the Hilton. We discussed how our vacations went after we departed several days ago and then agreed to share the cab to the airport.

We noticed something instantly when we walked into Dubrovnik...the crowds. Crowds were about nonexistent during the first portion of our trip, but today a cruise ship was docked nearby and hordes of people were day tripping into the town. They were everywhere, and to be honest it took away some of the ambiance we found just days before. Dubrovnik is so lovely but its very small so the extra people were quite noticeable. Not that I really minded, but I rather enjoyed having it mostly to ourselves and the locals!

So today we made our way towards the walls and away from the rest of the tourists and just kind of walked the back streets of Dubrovnik and marveled, once again, at its beauty. I found a couple of cats that decided to follow me for a little while before they found a trash can that must have been more appealing. The sky was quite overcast, and to be honest this almost made it easier to leave...its always hard leaving a place when the sun is shining and its a beautiful day.

We walked outside of the walls to the cement slab at the end of Dubrovnik's peninsula once again, only this time we were the only ones out there. We sat on the benches in silence and let the breeze blow through our hair, soaking in as much as we could because we were both feeling sad that we were leaving.

Alas, it was time to head back to the hotel to do any last minute packing and check out. We met Shawn and Mike in the lobby promptly at noon and hopping in our cab for our ride to the airport. Dubrovnik's airport is tiny, as I mentioned before. We all decided that we were hungry, but there literally was nothing to eat. The one restaurant was sold out of sandwiches so all we had to snack on was some chips and stale croissants left over from probably the day before. So a word of advice; if you are hungry eat before you get to the airport! Our flight was to leave at 2:00, so we just sat around and talked. Mike and Shawn spent the whole week in Dubrovnik, so we heard a lot about the rest of their trip. They went to Mostar, with Atlas (this time they showed up!) and absolutely loved it. They also spent a day on Mjet and mostly just hung around Dubrovnik. They were very interested in hearing about Slovenia and how northern Croatia compared to southern Croatia, and we just filled the time chatting about our respective vacations until it was time to board.

The flight was noneventful and we arrived in Gatwick on time. Unfortunately this is where our trip took at turn for the worst, starting with our luggage. Yes, it arrived safe and sound so we can't complain too much, but our entire flight waited for almost an hour for our luggage to finally come around the luggage carousel. Gatwick was a zoo and getting to the trains wasn't much fun either. We said our goodbyes to Shawn and Mike (they took a different train home) and we hopped on the Gatwick Express.

I booked the Hotel Paddington on Venere for two reasons. 1) It was cheap. Because we were only going to be in London basically long enough to sleep, we didn't want to spend a lot of money. This was 50 pounds. 2) It was close Paddington Train Station, and we were planning on taking the Heathrow Express the next morning. Unfortunately I can't tell you how the hotel was because...we couldn't find it.

I'm usually very organized but as I said above, I was busy with the move and all and forgot to print exact directions, although we did have the printout of the hotel info from Venere.com. Now, I love my husband dearly but one thing he hates to spend money on is cabs and I could have killed him. We couldn't find the hotel and I swear we walked around London, at night with our bags, for over an hour and a half trying to find this hotel. I was exhausted and starving from lack of lunch and I was nearly in tears. We found a pay phone and tried to call but Venere.com doesn't give the hotels phone numbers and nobody from Venere was picking up. We finally decided to forget it and found a Days Inn that had rooms available. The Days Inn Hyde Park was on Sussex Gardens, very near Paddington Station. The rooms were 85 pounds per night but at this point I was just thoroughly exhausted and annoyed and would have gladly paid double. Our room is hot and tiny and the walls were very thin so it was noisy, but it had a bed and a shower and I was happy. We opened up the windows, each took a shower, and then headed out to dinner.

We found a pub just up the street called Sawyers Arms and our food was excellent. I had a lasagna (I know, but they were out of the chicken dish I wanted), hubby had a burger, and we split an appetizer of tempura chicken sticks because we really were starving. We each had a Kronenbourg (a beer that was recommended to us by our waiter) and felt ourselves calm down a bit. Our meal was very good and finally at 10:00 pm we head back to our hotel thoroughly exhausted.

Next: Home

Day 10 - Home

We wake up the next morning, shower and leave. Our flight was leaving out of Heathrow at 11:00 and we wanted to leave plenty of time, so we left our hotel around 8:00 and was at Heathrow well before 9:00. While hubby bought the tickets for the Heathrow Express I decided that my little niece had to have an "original Paddington Bear" from the Paddington Bear cart in the station, so I quickly bought her one. We headed down to the tracks and waited for our train.

We got to Heathrow, checked in (lines were long and slow), found a place to grab some sandwhiches and croissants for breakfast/lunch, shopped (okay, I shopped and hubby tagged along) at the Harrods shops in the airport (I bought my mom a chocolate big ben and some earl grey tea for myself) and then sat at our gate until our flight was called.

Our flight was uneventful. We arrived in Chicago and had about an hour to kill before our flight to Charlotte, which ended up being delayed about 20 minutes. Croatia is fairly popular on this board, but I don't think its popularity has reached a broad audience yet. As we waited for our flight, I had a Croatia bag with some stuff in it that I bought from airport, and people were whispering and making gestures, and one woman asked me what in the world possessed me to want to go to Croatia. After I gave her quite an earful about how great it was she looked interested but doubtful. Oh well...their loss.

All in all we had a fabulous time. Of the 20 or so countries I have been to in Europe Croatia is my favorite, knocking our my previous favorite of Austria (although its still up there!). Croatia, and Montenegro for that matter, completely surpassed our expectations. The people were friendly, the food was great (this coming from a picky eater), the roads were easier to navigate than we thought, and everything was just terrific.

Thank you to everyone who has read my report, and a huge thank you to everyone that has ever contributed to a Croatia thread because I'm sure at some point I've read it when I was planning our trip. I can only hope that my report can be of use to someone, and I would be more than happy to answer any questions.

Tracy

Tracy, thanks so much for sharing your experiences in Croatia and Slovenia! You really whetted my interest in visiting a place I'd never heard much about before joining Fodors, except for handsome Dr. Kovach on ER.

Croatia isn't only a popular place for Fodorites to visit I've discovered. Travel + Leisure magazine chose Istria, Croatia as one of its four up and coming destinations for 2007!

Tracy

I'm only getting around to reading your Croatia report now, and I'm really excited about my holidays! we are going to Croatia in August, cant wait, thanks for a great report.

Lucie

Dear Tracy,

I am tickled that you are so descriptive in your writing! I am headed for my first Croatia trip in June, I've waited 3 years to go!!! And, alas, I never knew Montenegro existed except after seeing that movie...luckily, the tour I am taking is planning to spend the day where you've raved about: Kotor! And, if the company doesn't take us there...I know Nikko will!!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to write! I am only at Day 4, and look forward to spending more time cutting and pasting your happy delights onto my ever expanding itinerary plans...I loved the term, Overprepared Traveler...for me, I've always been obsessively overprepared and planned!

Happy travels,
Sarah...from the great Northwest!

tracy.. totally enjoyed your trip report. and to hear that it is your favorite is really exciting to me... i thought Croatia was absolutely the BEST (but that from someone who hasn't had the opportunity to travel much). thankyou again for taking the time to detail your trip. brings back great memories.

topping for nannibray....

Tracy

Thanks Tracy. Now I realize what "topping" means. Read your post this morning and didn't know what it meant. Finally dawned on me!
Mary Ann

topping for kja..I know there is information on Varazdin somewhere in here!

Tracy

bokmarking

Hi Tracy, Thanks for taking the time and effort to write such a descriptive helpful report. I'm planning to go to Croatia next year and some of the info you provided solidified my plans about where to go, etc. If those are your two twins in your "PHOTO GALLERY" pics...they are so adorable! Again, many thanks...Allison